Why I’m Breaking Up With Apple

First let me clarify: I’m not getting rid of my iPhone and my iPad isn’t going anywhere either. However, my love affair with Apple is definitely over and my MacBook is on my shit list. That, and there’s a new HP laptop in our house and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be taking the place of my beloved MacBook.

Patrick surprised me with a MacBook in October of 2009 and it was love at first sight. After bad experiences with various PCs, I was in heaven with the Mac. It was perfect. Elegant. Fast. Just flat-out better than anything having to do with Windows. I still had to use the PC to remotely connect to my work computer, but otherwise, I was a total Mac convert.

Until about a month ago. Suddenly my trusty, gorgeous, perfect MacBook was having problems connecting to the internet. A Mac? Having problems? I thought that wasn’t supposed to happen. But, alas, it was happening. I would sit in the same spot I always sit in–on my sofa in the family room–and could not connect to the internet. For over a year, I sat in this same spot and had not one second’s problem connecting to the internet. Nothing changed. But suddenly I could either not connect at all or the connection was horribly slow and inconsistent. I tweeted about it. I Googled it. I even visited the Genius Bar. Got a new battery. Learned that my problem is not an uncommon one (not from the Genius Bar, mind you; that was from Twitter and Google). Apparently intermittent internet connectivity issues are common with MacBooks.

A friend–a fellow Mac devotee (not in the paraphiliac sense, mind you–get your mind out of the gutter)–set his mind on fixing my problem. He sent me helpful links. He told me how to reset the PRAM, how to disable IPV6 to speed up the connection…I tried it all. Also got a new router from Verizon, just for good measure. It usually works now. Usually. But only if I sit in the dining room; if I sit in my regular sofa spot–which, incidentally, is DIRECTLY behind the router in the office just through the wall–the internet is slow as molasses. Either that or occasionally doesn’t work at all.

At first I was in denial. I mean, everyone knows, Macs are perfect. PCs have problems, viruses, are slow…you name it. Macs are perfect. No viruses, no issues of any kind. So there must be something wrong with me, my house, my router, Verizon–anything but the Mac itself. But, alas, it is actually the Mac. Internet connectivity is a known issue, and true to Apple form, they don’t address it. Because they walk on water and are above what regular mortal companies have to do in terms of serving customers.

But you know what? I’m not ok with that. I need a computer that works. And if there’s a known issue with internet connectivity–something integral to my life and career–I need a company that is not above caring what customers say and have issues with. And that’s not Apple.

So goodbye, gorgeous glossy MacBook. I mean, not goodbye for real–it’s not like I’m selling it or anything. But I don’t trust it and expect that the new HP laptop will be assuming the position of top computer dog in my house. We had a good run, but ultimately, all the fanfare turned out to be wrong. Macs are not perfect. Color me surprised. And profoundly disappointed.